Author's Notes 1:

Going forward this story will have a new name. A Twist of Fate: A Swirling New Path. A Swirling New Path will conclude with the Chunin Exams. After that I'll most likely take a break from Naruto and will work on a new story. Perhaps a My Hero Academia one but I'm not 100% sure yet.


Naruto walked down one of Konoha's many streets with his hands in his pockets as he considered what he should do on his day off. He'd already sent a couple clones to the library to study what Fuinjutsu books he had access to but doubted he'd find anything Orchid-Sensei hadn't already taught him. He could head home and study more of the Uzumaki history or meditate to speak to the Kitsune, but… neither of those felt like the right action to do that day. There had been this feeling like there was something he should be doing today but he had no idea what it was and it was annoying the hell out of him!

He'd already led the 'Demon Cat' Tora into a park to freak out some Chunin who'd left a sign with hateful messages outside his home. He'd also dropped off the latest batch of explosion tags to Higurashi Armaments, but decided to hold off on buying anything yet. He really wanted to buy the Chakra Scroll but while he had some ideas on what he could do with it, he knew that whatever he did with it couldn't be used for a simple prank. It HAD to be used for something bigger and more meaningful. He'd been working on some seals based on the manga Orchid-Sensei had shown him but progress was slower than he'd like.

Deep in thought he bumped into a familiar brown haired girl, "Sorry about that…. Yakumo?"

Yakumo chuckled, "Don't worry about it. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going either… You alright?"

"Yeah," Naruto scratched the back of his head, "I've just got this nagging feeling like there's something I should be doing but no idea what."

Yakumo hummed in thought, "I can understand that… though part of that comes from the Ido rearing its head which thankfully is happening less often these days."

"Glad to hear it," Naruto said with a small smile, as the Kitsune's giggle echoed through his mind. He appreciated her input when it came to training and the occasional seal but it was still weird having another voice in his head. He was about to ask how her training to control the other part of her bloodline went, but his ear twitched as he heard a muffled cry before something fell and broke.

"Hear that?" Yakumo asked.

"Yeah… also heard a muffled cry… come on," Naruto said and the two hurried down a side alley, with Naruto in the lead. Soon they came across three Konoha Shinobi, two of whom were wearing Chunin Flak Jackets. One of the Chunin had a struggling kid with a long blue scarf in his hands, and a broken wooden box at their feet.

"Pipe down squirt," The only non-chunin growled, a large shuriken on his back, and his dark red hair poking out from under his straw hat.

"Yeah," The Chunin holding up the kid said, a katana strapped to his back and his black hair tied up in a short ponytail. The second Chunin had a pair of katar on his hips and looked identical to the one with the katana "Not like we're planning to hurt you. Just need to get our message across."

"Put the kid down, punks," Naruto said with Yakumo already starting going through some hand signs, "I don't know who your message is for but no need to bring him into it."

The three Shinobi jumped, turned to look at Naruto, and scowled. The non-Chunin growling, "Great. The Demon Brat is here along with some bitch."

The Chunin who was holding the kid tilted his head as an evil grin crossed his lips, "This might be better…" He tossed the kid to the side, breaking a couple stacked boxes that were nearby, "Let's just take out the problem at the source. All this started because of this brat and most of the village would reward us! Even the Hokage can't go against an entire village!" He quickly drew his katana while his fellow Chunin drew his katana and the non-Chunin pulled out a kunai, his giant shuriken useless in the alleyway.

"You won't get the chance," Yakumo said as Naruto pulled out his wakizashi and settled into his opening stance, "Demonic Illusion: Spider's Web Jutsu," A scuttling sound was heard as three giant spiders crawled into the alley, two from the rooftops, one from behind the would-be assassins and a fourth spider bursting out from the ground before Naruto and Yakumo. The four spiders quickly shot out globs of webs. The shinobi tried to use their weapons to cut the web but their weapons were quickly pulled from their hands, then the three were bound and tied to the walls of one of the buildings.

As they struggled one of them said, "No way in hell did she summon all these! It's got to be a Genjutsu!" The three shinobi tried to disrupt their Chakra to break the Genjutsu but nothing happened, "What the hell?!" The three shinobi were now terrified as the spiders closed in, mandibles clicking ominously.

"Naruto, send a clone to get some Anbu," Yakumo ordered as she glared at the would-be assassins.

"On it," Naruto said a single Shadow Clone appearing which took to the rooftops. He then moved over to where the kid had been discarded, "You alright kid?"

"Ye…yeah," He said as he pulled himself out of the broken boxes, "And the name's Konohamaru Sarutobi."

"So you're related to… the Hokage?" Naruto asked. There were still times he almost called the old man Jiji but Naruto needed more time to figure out if he still wanted to call the old man that, "That would explain why they targeted you."

"Yeah he's my grandfather," Konohamaru scowled, "But everyone just calls me 'honorable grandson'! No one uses my actual name to the point I don't know if anyone other than family and two friends KNOWS my name!"

Yakumo winced, "That's rough. Don't worry, we'll remember to call you by your name. I'm Yakumo Kurama," The captured would-be assassin's eyes went wide. That explains why they couldn't escape! The Kurama Clan was well known for being masters of Genjutsu and one member of the Clan's Mainline was able to make their Genjutsu affect the real world. They just had to run into the one member of the clan who could do physical Genjutsu didn't they?

"And I'm Naruto Uzumaki. Up and coming Ninja and future Hokage, dattebayo!" Naruto said with a large grin.

"No way!" Konohamaru yelled, "I'm gonna take the hat from the Old Man! My attacks are gonna work one day!"

"Wait… attacks?" Naruto asked glancing at an equally confused Yakumo, "Why would you want to attack your grandfather?"

"Isn't that how it works?" Konohamaru asked, "You beat the sitting Hokage and become the next one?"

"No. It doesn't work like that at all," Naruto said just before an Anbu wearing a bird-like mask appeared.

"Your clone said there was trouble Uzumaki?" The Anbu asked, the three tied up Shinobi paling as they hadn't expected an Anbu to actually turn up.

"Yeah. These three were attempting to kidnap Konohamaru," Naruto said, getting a nod of agreement from the kid.

"They said that by doing so it would make sure their message would be sent," Konohamaru explained.

The Anbu nodded and looked at the thoroughly screwed Shinobi, the four spiders making sure they hadn't tried to escape, "Miss Kurama, how long will those threads last?"

"Once I drop the Jutsu… I think about an hour," Yakumo said, "I'm not exactly sure as Uncle didn't want to leave the thread out for too long when we practiced the Jutsu."

"Please drop the Jutsu. Even if it's only five minutes it will be plenty of time to get them to T&I," The Anbu requested. Yakumo nodded and dropped the Jutsu making the spiders dissipate into mist. The Anbu drew a tanto from a hidden sheath, and quickly cut the threads holding the prisoners to the wall, grabbed the thread and then vanished in a shunshin taking the prisoners with them.

Turning back to Konohamaru, Naruto said, "How about we go to my team's training ground, for a bit? I can tell you more about what Yūgao-Sensei told me about what it takes to be Hokage, and we can take care of any injury you might have gotten… as long as it's not a concussion. Can't do anything for that," Konohamaru nodded and the three walked off. When they got to the training ground Naruto turned to his two companions and quickly looked over Konohamaru Who luckily was uninjured apart from a small brush on his arm, "Alright. From what Yūgao-Sensei said, the Hokage isn't only one of the more powerful and respected Shinobi in the village, he's also a master of strategy, politics, bureaucracy and the like."

"Basically there's no shortcuts to becoming the Hokage," Yakumo interjected, "Where did you get the idea that beating your grandfather would make you Hokage?"

"Ebisu-Sensei," Konohamaru scowled, "He's meant to be teaching me all about what it means to be a Shinobi before I go to the academy, but he just goes on and on about how listening to him will be the fastest way to become Hokage."

"Man's an idiot," Naruto shook his head, "What rank is he?"

"Tokubetsu Jonin," Konohamaru replied.

"Really? What's his specialization?" Yakumo asked.

"Teaching," Konohamaru scoffed.

"Yeah… total idiot," Naruto sighed, "I suggest you talk with Asume-Sensei about this… who got Ebisu to be your sensei anyways?"

"My mother," Konohamaru replied before perking up, "Can you two teach me some of the things Ebisu-Sensei didn't?"

Naruto cocked his head to the side as he considered this. Eventually he nodded "Alright. Might be fun to teach you and it'll be a good experience for me if I ever get a Genin Team when I'm a Jonin. What about you Yakumo?"

"You focus on the physical aspect, I focus on the spiritual?" Yakumo suggested, "And we work together for the academy three?"

"Sounds good!" Naruto agreed, "Let's get to training!"


Ebisu was frantic as he looked around for the Honorable Grandson when an Anbu appeared and told him the Hokage wanted to see him. Making his way to the Hokage, Ebisu was worried about what the Hokage wanted, "You wanted to see me Hokage-Sama?" Ebisu asked once he stood before Hiruzen.

Hiruzen let out a puff of smoke from his pipe, "Yes. Tell me Ebisu, when was the last time you saw Konohamaru?"

Ebisu tried to hide it but sweat still dripped down his face as he adjusted his glasses, "The Honorable Grandson snuck out of our lesson three hours ago and I have been trying to find him ever since."

"For your information Ebisu, three shinobi attempted to kidnap him two and a half hours ago," Hiruzen said sending a small glare at the black clad shinobi who gulped nervously, "Had you been doing your job properly, you would have been able assist in his rescue."

"Is he alright? Who rescued him?" Ebisu asked, "And who in their right mind would attempt to kidnap the Honorable Grandson?"

"Three fools who have been dismissed from their duty to Konoha," Hiruzen replied, "All three are related to some of the members of the Civilian Council who were arrested for treason and they thought that by kidnapping Konohamaru they could get their family members released. However they were caught and defeated by Genin Naruto Uzumaki and soon to be Genin Yakumo Kurama."

"Why would the De…. Uzumaki help?" Ebisu asked catching himself before he could call the Genin 'Demon'. He was already in trouble for allowing the Honorable Grandson to nearly be kidnapped and he knew the Hokage was fond of the village's jinchūriki.

"Apart from him not being the 'demon' people think him to be?" Hiruzen asked with a smirk as Ebisu gulped again as his previous slipup was noticed, "Naruto is the Heir of the Uzumaki Clan and a Genin of Konoha. On top of that he alerted an Anbu of what was happening so the three could be taken to T&I while bound by one of Yakumo's physical Genjutsu. After that the three went to Team Six's training ground and began teaching him things YOU should have told him. Such as the nature of Chakra, and even how to do something as simple as using cloth with the correct texture and design to hide."

"I… I have been focusing more on the theoretical side," Ebisu tried panic slowly welling up inside.

Hiruzen slammed his hands on the table as he got to his feet, "And yet even much of that was incorrectly taught! I had an Anbu watch the entire thing and now I know YOU are also the one who told Konohamaru that if he defeated me, he would become the Hokage! You have done NOTHING but fill his head with half-truths and falsehood! Were you TRYING to turn Konohamaru against me? Against Konoha?!" That was a lie. He'd used his crystal ball to watch the entire event and before he could send an Anbu to save his Grandson, Naruto and Yako had intervened. He was proud of how Naruto and Yakumo had handled the situation. Quickly and efficiently, like true Shinobi.

"No! I would never!" Ebisu tried before two Anbu appeared and grabbed his arms.

"Take him to Ibiki. I want to know exactly what this fool thought he was doing," Hiruzen ordered and the two Anbu vanished along with Ebisu. Sitting back down, Hiruzen sighed. Most of the academy instructors, more than half of the civilian council, and now not only three more shinobi but also a Tokubetsu-Jonin. He needed to find a new successor, and together the two could bring Konoha back to its prime. That's when an idea struck him and a small grin appeared… yes. That just might work, though it was always good to have a backup plan. Jiraiya was currently in the village… it's time for one of his wayward students to return home. Hiruzen quickly summoned a monkey and asked him to summon Jiraiya before the old man wrote a letter.


"And now for my favorite of the academy three," Naruto said to a Konohamaru that was hanging on his every word, "The Transformation."

Konohamaru groaned, "That's the one I'm worst at."

"Why?" Yakumo asked, "It's the first one taught at the academy according to Uncle and Guy-Sensei."

"I have no idea why!" Konohamaru whined, "Here I'll show you. Transform!" The resulting transformation was… bad to say the least. Konohamaru had tried to turn into Ebisu, but one of the arms was bent at an awkward angle and heavily wrinkled, while the other was enlarged and inflamed as if he'd fallen into a patch of poison ivy. He was also bending over as if he had a bad back, and the outfit was light gray instead of black. This lasted for a few seconds before Konohamaru returned to normal.

Naruto 'hmmmed' in thought before turning to his friend, "What do you think Yakumo? I never had a problem with this Jutsu so I'm not sure."

"Perhaps its his mental image?" Yakumo suggested, "Normally the better the mental image of the person the better the transformation. His mental image of Ebisu might be tainted by how bad a teacher he is?" Turning to Konohamaru she asked, "Do you have any friends you're close to?"

"Yeah! Moegi and Udon! Apart from you two and my family, they're the only ones who call me by my name!" Konohamaru said, "So I should try turning into someone I know well?"

Yakumo nodded, "It's a good place to start at least."

"Alright. Transform!" Konohamaru called and in a burst of smoke he was replaced with a kid of similar height with straight brown hair, large round glasses, a black zipped up coat, blue jeans, sandals, and strangely a small bit of snot hanging out of his nose. Quickly looking himself over before cheering showing even his voice had changed, "YES! It worked! I pulled off a successful Transformation!"

"Yup. The mental image was the problem," Yakumo nodded satisfied, "One question though. Why the bit of snot?"

Konohamaru returned to normal and shrugged, "No idea. It's just there all the time."

"At least we now know the issue," Naruto said with a nod, "One last thing. Either cut the scarf short or ditch it until you're older. As it is, you'll just trip over it often enough it'll be nothing but a hindrance."

"Got it Big bro!" Konohamaru nodded, "I wanted to wear it as it's one of the few things I have left of dad but… you're right. I do trip pretty often."

"Big bro?" Naruto asked in shock, making Yakumo giggle a bit.

"You've been way more helpful than Ebisu, plus you treat me like… well me. Not all that 'Honorable Grandson' crap," Konohamaru explained and Naruto nodded. He'd had more than enough of being called a 'Demon Brat' and the like so he knew exactly where Konohamaru was coming from, "So I've decided that you're my Big bro while she's Big sis! Well I better get home. See ya!" Konohamaru then took off while making sure to keep hold of the scarf with his right hand, and in his haste he completely missed the embarrassed blushes on Naruto and Yakumo.

"Well… I wasn't expecting him to say that…" Yakumo said as she tried to regain her composure.

Naruto coughed into his hand, "Yeah…" Once more the Kitsune's laughter echoed in his mind. They were obviously finding no end of amusement in Naruto's embarrassment, "So… anything else you want to do?"

"Well… Uncle once mentioned that the Uzumaki Clan had a summon contract," Yakumo stated thankful that she'd regain composer with the change of topic, "I was curious if you had access to it."

"Yeah. Mom had it stored away and I even signed it," Naruto stated, "Why?"

"Well Uncle only said that the Uzumaki Clan might have a contract," Yakumo explained, "He never said what it might be."

"Ahhh," Naruto stated, "Yeah I can show ya. Please don't spread it around though, I wanna keep that as an ace up my sleeve."

"Not a problem," Yakumo agreed as she wondered what on earth could the Uzumaki personal Summon Contract be if Naruto wanted it kept a secret?


Deep underground Konoha, one of the three elders, Danzo Shimura one of the last remaining members of the Shimura Clan, sat on a stone throne as he watched the latest batch of Root recruits from a hidden room through a one way mirror disguised as part of the stone wall. One of them, now called Sai, was coming along well. Still prone to showing emotion every now and then but that would soon be corrected as this batch was set for their final conditioning next week. He was curious who would pass the trials and who would fall to the side. Sai was one he hoped would succeed as his Ink Jutsu was not only unique but also highly versatile, though if Sai was one of the failures that was fine too. Root already had all they needed to recreate the Jutsu, and training an artist while slightly irritating would be just another step to returning Konoha to its spot as the most powerful village in the world with him at its helm.

A small frown appeared on his face as he thought about Hiruzen's latest actions. He applauded the steps taken with the academy as the Genin who graduated were little more than cannon fodder, and the civilians, while easy to manipulate to aid in his goals had needed to be reminded that Konohagure was a military village and as such the civilians are not and never will be in charge of Konoha.

No, the problem was the jinchūriki. Naruto needed to be trained to use the Kyubi's power but now he knew about his Clan, something Danzo had worked hard to suppress. When Naruto made Jonin he would be free to leave Konoha to rebuild Uzushio meaning Konoha would lose its sole Biju. He was also infuriated that Root's attempt to break into his home and steal everything he had on Fuinjutsu had made little to no progress. He needed to get that knowledge so Konoha could flourish! Trying to spy on the boy when he learned his family's Tai and Kenjutsu styles had also proved fruitless. Every agent he'd sent had returned with only the faintest of memories of the event even though they knew they'd watched the entire training session. He was beginning to both admire and despise the Uzumaki's skills in Fuinjutsu more than he did previously.

Behind Danzo in the shadows, stood one of the man's personal bodyguards Torune Aburame, his black mask hiding his narrowed eyes while his mouth didn't move a muscle to show his utter disdain for the man who had essentially blackmailed him into joining the organization. His hive which consisted of a Kikaichu subspecies known as Rinkaichū shared his disdain for the man who'd threatened the Hive, and if there was one thing to remember about the Kikaichu is that you never threaten the Hive. He just had to be patient and the opportunity to be free would present itself. He just hoped his friend and fellow bodyguard Fu Yamanaka would join him.


In a forest on the edge of the Land of Fire and Land of Grass, two red haired girls were running for their lives, a couple Amegakure Nuke-Nin hot on their heels. One of the girls was a little over twelve years old, had brown glasses, red eyes, and wore a short brown coat over a black shirt, light green pants, black shinobi sandals, her red hair going down to her shoulders. The other girl was older, about sixteen or seventeen wearing a tan short sleeve tunic over a black one piece outfit, black arm-warmers, leg warmers that ended just below her knees, and standard black shinobi sandals. She also had an odd black symbol comprised of three hooks making a triangle with their inner ends on the back of her that was barely visible under her waist length hair.

The two were starting to run low on Chakra after how long the Nuke-Nin had been chasing them with the younger girl already running on fumes. The older girl glanced down at the remains of a flute in her hand and scowled. She really didn't want to use the power that bastard had given her and she couldn't even use her summons without the flute which was a very aggravating flaw in hindsight. If the two made it out of this she'd look into either finding a way around the flaw or flat out replacing her current contract. She just hopped she'd get the chance and she hadn't led her only known family member to her death.


"Team Six reporting for a C-Rank mission Hokage-Sama," Yūgao said as her team once more stood in the mission room.

The Hokage's clone glanced at Naruto who was keeping his face neutral before looking back at Yūgao and nodding, "Something similar to last time?"

"I was thinking of a different kind of mission, Hokage-Sama. Give my team some more experience with the various kinds of missions," Yūgao explained as the Hokage was handed the C-Rank folder.

"Understandable," The Hokage said as he began flipping through it, "We have a mission to bring supplies to the outpost near the Land of Grass and Land of Tea."

"Accepted Hokage-Sama," Yūgao said before she was handed the mission scroll.

"I wish you luck on your mission," The Hokage said as Team Six saluted and left the room. Hiruzen pulled down his hat to hide his remorseful expression. He was really missing the simpler times of speaking to his adopted grandson.


Author's Notes 2:

I was shocked when I checked the wiki and saw that Danzo was part of a clan… kinda wish they went more into that but there are a few things I wish they went more into or did differently in Naruto.